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In this issue:

Take time to appreciate the staff who work hard to keep VIU running smoothly! Learn from social workers about the field and how you can best assist to create a better community. Enjoy this academic year's last issue as we celebrate Women of Influence and the Clippers Pride Night!
Volume 57 Issue No. 2 cover. Black and white illustration of various holiday decorations bursting out of a cardboard box.

February 2026

Features
Memoir
Poetry
Fiction
Artwork
Videos
Podcasts
Features
Poetry
Memoir
Fiction
Artwork
Videos
Podcasts

Articles

Features

What We CAN Do

Regional Manager Lauren Goodmanson and Support Worker Skylar Armstrong-Ashley chat about how they got involved with the Canucks Autism Network and their mission to build inclusive communities in Nanaimo.
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Women of Influence Awards

Women, non-binary, Two-Spirited, and gender diverse individuals gathered to celebrate each other’s achievements. Blaise Hunter, host of the WIN Awards, led us through a magical evening where she encouraged us not to fit in, but make the world fit around us.
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Paul Samyn

Paul Samyn walks us through 38 years of journalism and his journey throughout it all. Samyn, Editor of the Winnipeg Free Press, talks about his wide variety of articles, gender equality in the newsroom, and his goal as the 15th editor of Winnipeg’s favourite newspaper.
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Behind The Scenes of VIU

VIU is one of the biggest employers in Nanaimo, so who are the people holding the Nanaimo campus together and running the day-to-day operations? Explore four of many departments that help students and faculty with a smooth daily functioning on campus. Get to know the fantastic individuals representing them.
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Illiterate In My Own Skin

The acne was not random. It was not a punishment. It was communication. What I once saw as failure of discipline, management, and resilience turned into a journey to understand hormones, stress, and the rhythm of the body I live in.
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Coaches of the VIU Mariners

Dive into how Matt Kuzminski, Men’s Basketball, Tony Bryce, Women’s Basketball, Dr. Abe Avender, Men’s Volleyball, and Chris Jones, Men’s Hockey, lead their team. Varying from their conflict management, game rituals, or Starbucks orders, each coach is unique in their own teaching...

Does ChatGPT Mean What It Says?

All across campus, students turn to ChatGPT—sometimes for help, sometimes for inspiration, and sometimes for reasons that fall into a grey area. But beneath this surface-level use lies a deceptively deep question: Does ChatGPT actually understand what it’s saying? Most of us talk to it the way we...

Can You See the Whiteboard?

When was the last time you had a full, comprehensive eye exam? Eye health affects more than just your eyes: it affects the world around you. Dr. Joshua Fleegel talks about the importance of eye health and the resources available for students while they attend university.

Let’s Talk Safety

In today’s fast-paced world, do we have time to be safe? With stories and inquiries on missing people and open homicide investigations, how can we keep ourselves, our families, and our communities out of harm? Let’s discuss safety in Nanaimo.

Built To Yearn for You

AI didn’t create our longing, our yearning. It gave it a safe place to go. This piece examines why, for many students, talking to a machine can feel safer than asking another person to stay. In a society shaped by half commitments, situationships, and emotional unavailability, AI offers...

Grub Street

Dalton and Jesslyn Derkson of poetry press a square house chat about their inaugural reading series with featured writers Taylor Fleming and Elke Sorensen.

Love in Nanaimo

Three couples of all different backgrounds and ages, share their local love stories. They dive into what makes each of their relationships work, from doing the dishes to sharing adventures.

Memoir

Fiction

Visual Art

Art

Marty West ()

Marty West’s dream has come true: He is now attending the absolutely beautiful campus of VIU. He completed a Philosophy degree “in a previous life” (1980s). After 37 years in the real world he has unlearned everything he learned before and now recognizes the necessity of updating his knowledge for the challenging times ahead. As such he has enrolled in Ecology (Bio 202) and has a particular interest in Evolution and especially the myths, fallacies, and misunderstandings with that theory.

After seeing a stand-up comedy show in Vancouver in the early 2000s, Marty dedicated himself to humour. He found focus in cartooning as a single cartoon can be inspired, drawn up and posted in an hour or two. No all-niters required. A cartoon can deliver the funny side to any topic, no matter how serious. Marty finds inspiration in new locales – thus the day he stepped on VIU campus to start his ecology course, he saw some funny things and sent them into the NAV. Marty hopes that the net quantity of laughter on campus will increase as a result. To everyone at VIU: Laugh on.

Marty West BA, MA (Philosophy)

Marty West ()

Marty West’s dream has come true: He is now attending the absolutely beautiful campus of VIU. He completed a Philosophy degree “in a previous life” (1980s). After 37 years in the real world he has unlearned everything he learned before and now recognizes the necessity of updating his knowledge for the challenging times ahead. As such he has enrolled in Ecology (Bio 202) and has a particular interest in Evolution and especially the myths, fallacies, and misunderstandings with that theory.

After seeing a stand-up comedy show in Vancouver in the early 2000s, Marty dedicated himself to humour. He found focus in cartooning as a single cartoon can be inspired, drawn up and posted in an hour or two. No all-niters required. A cartoon can deliver the funny side to any topic, no matter how serious. Marty finds inspiration in new locales – thus the day he stepped on VIU campus to start his ecology course, he saw some funny things and sent them into the NAV. Marty hopes that the net quantity of laughter on campus will increase as a result. To everyone at VIU: Laugh on.

Marty West BA, MA (Philosophy)

Poetry

Videos

Driving in Nanaimo

This month, Nav videographer Daxton Comba takes us on a tour around Nanaimo with a series of mobile interviews, both island-lifers and newcomers to the city, covering everything from learning how to drive to zipper merging and the ever-growing number of roundabouts in the city. Daxton probes the question of why Nanaimo is a strange city to drive in, while longtime drivers Mikhayla Comba and...
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Locked In for Nationals: VIU Men’s Basketball Playoff Preview

In his final feature of Volume 57, Sports Videographer Liam Prendergast hits the court with the VIU Men’s Basketball team as they prepare to host the 2026 CCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship. Prendergast sits down with Head Coach Matt Kuzminski, along with players Ryan Bastian and Kai Leighton, to talk about postseason preparation and what it means to compete for a national championship...
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Vancouver Island, The Big One, & The Larger Story

Nav Videographer Daxton Comba takes us beneath Vancouver Island on a tour of the geologic processes underneath. He speaks with Senior SFU lecturer Andrew Perkins, PhD about the Cascadia subduction zone, “the big one,” glaciation and more. Daxton ponders the earthquake as a looming presence...

Podcasts

Elke’s On the Island, Ep. 6: The Opposite of Addiction

Content Warning: Might trigger strong emotions or discomfort, as we discuss topics of alcoholism, addiction, mention of suicidal ideation, and relapse. Associate Media Editor Elke Sorensen and Nav Features Editor Deanne Whenham sit down in-studio to discuss Whenham’s journey through alcohol addiction and recovery as a young adult. Whenham, who approaches four years sober, takes the listener...
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Elke’s On the Island, Ep. 5: I Tried Speed Dating

Associate Media Editor Elke Sorensen and Nav Reporter Nadia Fontaine travel to Vancouver for a night of in-person speed dating in an attempt to try something new for February. Sorensen and Fontaine sit down to chat about their experiences with apps such as Tinder, and discuss the pros and cons of...

Elke’s On the Island, Ep. 5: I Tried Speed Dating

Associate Media Editor Elke Sorensen and Nav Reporter Nadia Fontaine travel to Vancouver for a night of in-person speed dating in an attempt to try something new for February. Sorensen and Fontaine sit down to chat about their experiences with apps such as Tinder, and discuss the pros and cons of...

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